CMS50FW - Uses and Applications

The Contec CMS50FW is a very versatile pulse oximeter unit that lends itself to multiple purposes for different users.

Sleep Apnea:Approximately 45 million Americans suffer from some form of sleep disordered breathing (SDB). One of every 15 Americans suffer from mild to severe obstructive sleep apnea, but the worst part is that about 75% of severe cases of apnea remain undiagnosed. Most people suffering sleep disordered breathing will do so in the form of apnea or hypopnea. Apnea is characterized by a cessation of airflow lasting 10 seconds or more. Hypopnea will have a decrease in airflow lasting 10 seconds or more with a 30% oxygen reduction and a 4% de-saturation from the baseline.

The Contec CMS50FW can will monitor your breathing (pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation) and produce reports that will show changes that occur second by second. This report can be analyzed to determine if you have sleep apnea, hypopnea or if the airway obstruction is not severe enough to cause any blood oxygen de-saturation.

Oxygen Therapy users: Oxygen therapy or supplemental oxygen is used in different settings and for different reasons. The settings include hospitals or clinics, pre-hospital (like an ambulances) and at home. The first two are mostly used due to an emergency condition and for a relatively short period of time. On the other hand when we talk about home oxygen therapy it normally refers to a long term use due to a chronic condition like COPD, Chronic Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, Pulmonary hypertension, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Heart Disease or Failure.

The Contec CMS50FW can help oxygen therapy users in two ways. First, it can be used as a spot checker to help chronic patients decide when to use oxygen to bring their levels up to a safe and comfortable level. Many oxygen therapy users do not need to be continuously attached to an oxygen tube instead they can screen themselves and become on demand users. It is important to know each individual SpO2 point of reference and use that number as your low SpO2 trigger in the CMS50FW alarm setting. A person with diminished lung capacity can have a much lower SpO2 “normal” levels, ranging from 70% to 92% blood oxygen saturation (SpO2). The second manner it can be used is to monitor, record and study oxygen saturation through an extended period of time or during specific activities like exercise or during sleep. This type of continuous study can be performed periodically in order to establish benchmarks and trends as far as the patients SpO2 fluctuations and to track any further deterioration of lung capacity.

Sleep Studies: Pulse oximetry is a very important part of a comprehensive sleep study. In most cases a polysomnography study is required. This multi-parameter and thorough sleep study is performed at a sleep clinic and it includes pulse oximeter to track both oxygen levels in the blood and pulse rate, an electroencephalogram (EEG)to record your brain waves activity, a (EOG) to track eye movement, (EMG) for skeletal muscle activation, and an (ECG) to screen heart rhythm. This type of study is used to diagnose any of the following conditions or disorders: breathing disorders, like sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, narcolepsy or uncontrollable day time drowsiness, REM sleep behavior disorders, unexplained chronic insomnia, and unusual behaviors during sleep.

The Contec CMS50FW can be used as a take home sleep study. The results of a sleep study with only a pulse oximeter will help you establish whether you have a sleep disorder caused by apnea, hypopnea and even bradycardia. It will also show you how many times did your pulse raised from its sleeping stage lows, which is a good indicator of how many times the person came out of the deep sleep to a restless stage.